Technical analysis of the Ferrari F2008

In comparison to the 2007 McLaren, the F2007 had its faults, largely being a lack of pace at circuits devoid of fast corners and, to a lesser extent, reliability.

In addition to countering these issues the team have had new rules to contend with; the single ECU (SECU), four race gearboxes and some structural changes affecting the monocoque.

The team's response to these challengers is the new car, the F2008. Outwardly the car is a clear progression from the F2007, with only its Toyota-like nose and new cockpit padding initially suggesting its a new car.

However, the team have worked hard and have completely redesigned the aerodynamics despite initial appearances, as well as the development work to integrate the SECU and the monocoque changes.

The team's first task was to understand the problems with the 2007 car. Technical director Aldo Costa pointed out the team wanted to regain the performance lost on slow, slippery or bumpy tracks without sacrificing the virtues of the F2007's fast corner performance.

This encompassed work on the aerodynamics as well as the suspension. Nick Tombazis, the chief designer, told autosport.com, that this work was not as simple as making the aerodynamics work over a greater range of attitudes. He also suggested that it was not just the aero being too sensitive last year and that the suspensions job was just as important.

In addition to the work to recoup low speed grip, the work also encompassed the needs of the drivers, particularly Kimi Raikkonen after his first year with the team.

Equally, the winter design work needed to make the car sympathetic to the lack of electronic aids, as both traction control and other engine management functions are prohibited from helping the driver control the car going to and out of the corner.

The resulting car is within a few millimetres of the F2007. Costa would not be specific, but did admit the layout of the car was unaltered and only the front wheel position was altered to make the wheelbase change.

What has changed is the aerodynamic treatment under the front of the car, from the bulbous nose conjoined with the Biplane wing ala Toyota TF107, the nose cone is sculpted underneath to make more room for the front wing to work.

This process is aided by the monocoque being raised all the way back to the sidepods, necessitating a bulge in the otherwise smooth shape to clear the drivers hips. This has led Kimi Raikkonen to point out that the cockpit is smaller as he had less space around his thighs than before.

Ferrari have retained the zero keel set-up and again have spaced their upper wishbone mounts from the tub for better geometry.

Around the cockpit opening, the car features the new regulation cockpit sides, higher to react to the near miss between David Coulthard and Alex Wurz back in Australia 2007.

The bulkier cockpit sides are offset slightly by a narrow footwell, as evidenced by the tear-dropped bulges ahead of the cockpit to meet the meet the minimum width rules.

Above the cockpit the engine inlet snorkel is simpler and without the split duct used last year which had one duct feeding the hydraulics cooler. However, the cooler is still mounted behind the engine and fed by a take-off within the airbox.

The sidepods retain the shape of last year, albeit with a lower deck height forcing the exhausts to protrude from the cover. The spine of the engine cover is a lot slimmer, requiring neat little fins to be added to the tail end of the cover to meet the 'toblerone' 305mm width requirement.

Of course, the aerodynamics will be revised with new front and rear wings before the first race and in steps through out the 2008 season. Both the wings, barge boards and cooling ducts on the launch car were taken from the 2007 machine.

Mechanically the car retains its carbon titanium gearbox, albeit the press release saying it was carbon, but Tombazis confirmed to autosport.com that the gear case still used the same construction method as last year.

As the engine is still subject to the engine freeze, development work has largely been to improve tractability by working on the electronics and inlets. To this end and with the huge workload the SECU demanded, Gilles Simon now heads both the engine and electronics group.

This change also bears in mind the Kinetic energy recovery systems allowed by the rules in 2009.